Am I Not Your Girl? (CD - 1992)

Personnel includes: Sinead O'Connor (vocals); Ira Siegel (guitar); Elena Richard Sortomme, Marti Sweet, Gerald Tarack, Donna Tecco (violin); Lamar Alsop, Julien Barber, Jesse Levine (viola); Gloria Agostini (harp); Joanie Madden (tin whistle); Jarry O'Sullivan (Uillean pipes); Ronnie Cuber (baritone saxophone); Alan Rubin, Joe Shepley, Lew Soloff (trumpet, flugelhorn); Kim Cissel, Birch Johnson, Jim Pugh (trombone); George Flynn (bass trombone); Richard Tee (piano); Dave Lebolt (synthesizer); David Finck (bass); John Reynolds, Chris Parker (drums).

Based on Sinéad O'Connor's version of "You Do Something to Me" (a highlight on the Red Hot + Blue album), an album of pop standards performed with a big band might have actually worked. At times, such as on "Success Has Made a Failure of Our Home" and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," Am I Not Your Girl? does work. However, O'Connor runs into trouble with acknowledged standards and songs heavily identified with other vocalists. She doesn't offer a new perspective on these songs, and her airy voice is buried by overwrought string arrangements. Plus, there's O'Connor's bizarre two-minute rant on love, hatred, herself, and the Catholic Church. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Based on O'Connor's version of "You Do Something to Me" (a highlight on the Cole Porter tribute album Red Hot & Blue), an album of pop standards performed with a big band might have actually worked. At times, Am I Not Your Girl? does work. "Success Has Made A Failure of Our Home" is quite chilling, and "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" doesn't deserve O'Connor's sympathetic reading. However, O'Connor runs into trouble with acknowledged standards such as "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" and songs heavily identified with other vocalists ("Gloomy Sunday"). She doesn't offer a new perspective on these songs, and her airy voice is buried by overwrought string arrangements. Am I Not Your Girl? would be just an admirable failure if it wasn't for the presence of O'Connor's bizarre two-minute rant on love, hatred, herself, and the Catholic Church, making an already strange album one of the weirdest releases by a major artist in years. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine minimize